I would appreciate some guidance please from those more knowledgeable than me... I recently bought some pastes to utilise a disused paddle strop that was gathering dust.. my question is how many laps do you do for a touch up on the blade, I have red solingen paste on one side and black on the other, my understanding is that the red is for revamping a dull blade and the black for smoothing or polishing the edge, in the past i have touched up the edge on the 12k about 6 laps with no pressure. Many thanks in advance. Ian.
If the 12k works.... 8 to 10 laps on the pasted strop use both colors depending on need. If really bad, go to the red then black.
Honestly to answer your question it really depends on the condition on the blade. I would try 10 laps and see if the razor passes the hanging hair test. If it does then you are going in the right direction.
The paste you are using is made by Dovo. I believe. if it is the stuff in the little foil packets I have some also it come in Green, Red, or Black The Grit values are hard to find and also very deceptive when compared with the pastes that most use (CrOx Diamond, CBN) Green = 5-8 Micron Red = 3-5 Micron Black = 1-3 Microns What makes them deceptive is that they are very Mild cutters when compared to the other pastes so they require more laps if you expect to get any cutting action. Where most people recommend starting at 7-10 laps with say even the mild CrOx, the Dovo is going to be double that.. Off a 12k hone the Red should not be needed, I would try using the Black AFTER you test shave the edge with just 50/100 Linen & Leather
That is the consensus, I did a bit of research maybe 6 years ago on the whole over stropping on paste thing trying to cause a fail overusing Diamond paste I did not find that to be the case, Here is the experiment take a look and see what ya think
Thanks, Glen. I tend to do at least 20 laps on CrOx for touchups, instead of the 5 or 6 I hear most people may use.
There is quite a bit of difference in the pastes also The more pure it is tend to equate to the softer it is.. I won't use anything that isn't 99% or better proved by the MSDS, it really makes a difference. BUT The really pure stuff doesn't make for very effective touch ups, it is more for smoothing the edge off the hones, and adds nearly zero "Sharp" Decisions decisions hehehehe
Monday, I just brought out the lapping film 3 micron, 1 micron and 0.5 micron film and touched up two razors I was having trouble back up to snuff. That always does a wonderful job, when I remember to use it.
Same here. I have the crayon ( not sure if it is the best ) and I do 15-20 off the 12k, apache strata. Works for me
I have a separate touch-up wool felt strop I use that has chrome ox paste (.5 micron) on one side and diamond spray (.25 micron) on the other.
That's exactly what I do. I bought the hard pressed wool from SRD and use the paste on one and the dia spray on the other. I use the cro ox a lot, not the dia
BTW: I picked up some Dovo White paste recently and used it on two of my strops—on the linen only. The paste is mildly (fine) abrasive (as is canvas or linen), but the paste's main purpose is to even out the surface, filling in any gaps in the linen weave. This results in a very smooth, very even linen surface. The two linen strops, upon which I used the paste, were a bit rough, ragged and needed a thorough cleaning. A good soak in warm water with mild detergent, a mild scrub and air-drying brought them back to a more pliable, refreshed condition. The paste enhanced the overall feel of the linen.
so Glen. what past do you like. I have a green crayon that I got at SRD and it seems to plug up my hard pressed wool strop and gets hard. Should I change pastes or go to a linen web
For a Pressed Wool strop I would use a Spray.. I fact I am thinking of switching my Diamond sprayed one over to a CrOx sprayed one since I haven't used it in at least 3 years Honestly I use only two with any frequency I found a 99.99% pure source for both .30~ CrOx = Very soft and adds little "Keen" but does very well to make an edge feel smoother .25~ CeOx = Very Very soft and adds near Zero to the "Keen" only helps smooth the feel Other then that all the other pastes are sitting un-used for years now, basically if you name it I have tried it out but most of them are designed to add "Keeness" and I just don't want that.. I want smooth...